National teams not for profit-making — Nunoo Mensah
Mr Ben Nunoo Mensah has called on managers of the various national teams to see their positions as sacrifical ventures free from monetary gains such as the payment of ex gratia, appearance fees or bonuses.
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He said “I do not have a problem with people who earn moneys after they have invested so much at the club level but when it has to do with national teams I think that the managers must also sacrifice and place the interest of the country first”.
Juxtaposing the payment of $15, 000 ex-gratia to officials of the Ghana Football Association (GFA) as against the recent call by the Dormaahene, Oseadeayo Agyeman Badu II, for sportsmen and sportswomen to place the interest of the country first in all they do at the Professional League Board (PLB) Awards, Mr Nunoo Mensah stressed that the management of national teams is a non-profit making venture.
In an interview with the Graphic Sports yesterday, he cited an International Olympic Committee (IOC) charter which says: “People who opt to be in the sport must do so in the spirit of voluntarism”, and said that spirit must guide those in football as well.
“The charter binds people who are self-made and who love the sport to give back to society a little of what they have by helping to develop the youth through sports”.
“I, therefore, have no problems with the payment of per diem but when it becomes ex-gratia for something which is supposed to be voluntary, we must discourage that”, Nunoo Mensah cautioned.
He noted that: “As a country we must be careful about how we are monetising positions like the Executive Committee (ExCo) of the GFA, as well as the managements of the national teams”.
That, Mr Nunoo Mensah, who also doubles as the president of the Ghana Weightlifting Federation (GWF) explained would help avoid the situation where people aspiring to occupy such positions would do anything to get the nod.
He further urged managers of the senior national team, the Black Stars, to take advantage of the attraction of the brand, which is huge, to pull the other national teams along.
“ We are under-utilising the Black Stars brand but I know when we market them well the returns will trickle down to suport the other national teams,” he concluded.